Dining Sales and Services Specialist

Commonwealth of VA Careers; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 50,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

Commonwealth of VA Careers’ Dining Services team seeks a Dining Sales and Services Specialist for on-site work with university dining operations. You will lead customer support, enroll dining plans, and assist with events like Open Houses while handling POS updates and billing audits.

The role requires a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) and at least 2 years of customer service or administrative experience, with strong data accuracy and public speaking skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Hospitality Management, or related field or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 2 years of customer service, sales support, or administrative experience.
• Experience handling data entry, record-keeping, and account management with confidentiality.
• Experience using transaction systems such as POS, enrollment, or billing software.
• Ability to analyze data related to inquiries, plan trends, and system usage.
• Experience delivering speeches or presentations in large group settings.

Responsibilities

• Handle all customer service activities for Dining Services including email, phone inquiries, and walk-ins.
• Process dining plan enrollments and maintain records of changes, exceptions, and cancellations.
• Anticipate and fulfill customer needs, track incidents for year-round analysis and response.
• Report vending machine issues to vendors.
• Collaborate with the manager to develop dining plan sales/inquiry talking points.
• Manage university dining accounts – enroll new accounts and disable cancelled/separated accounts.
• Assist with student events like Open Houses, Preview Days, and Orientations (may require weekends/evenings).
• Troubleshoot dining plan software and POS systems; update and register contracts in enrollment and billing systems.
• Develop, update, and add to the sales and services procedure manual.

Skills

Customer service

Administrative support

Public speaking

Data analysis

Attention to detail

POS experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

POS systems

Enrollment/billing software

Data management tools

Job description

Advertising Summary:

Join the Business Services team as a Dining Sales and Services Specialist! In this full-time, on-site role , you will serve as the primary operational and customer support lead for campus dining, helping students and families with plan enrollments, speaking at major campus events, and managing backend point-of-sale (POS) systems and account audits. We are seeking candidates with a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) and at least 2 years of customer service or administrative experience who bring strong technical adaptability, public speaking skills, and a commitment to detail. This position offers an annual starting salary range of $50,000–$53,000.

Unit:

Business Services MBU

Department:

Dining Services

Department Summary:

The Dining Sales and Services Specialist handles front-line customer support, dining plan enrollments, and account management for Business Services. Operating on-site Monday through Friday, the role splits time between helping students and families (including speaking at campus events like Open Houses) and managing backend technical tasks like POS updates, billing audits, and vendor reports. We're looking for someone with a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience and at least 2 years in customer service or administration who can pick up systems quickly, keep data accurate, and stay cool under pressure in a busy environment.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Customer Service/Sales Management:

• Handle all customer service activities for Dining Services, including email, phone inquiries, and walk-ins.
• Process walk-in dining plan enrollments and maintain records of dining plan changes, exceptions, and cancellations.
• Anticipate and fulfill customer needs, track all incidents and requests for year-round analysis of peak use and relevant data to ensure effective, consistent response.
• Report vending machine issues to vendors.
• Collaborate with the manager to develop dining plan sales/inquiry talking points.
• Manage university dining accounts – enroll new accounts and disable cancelled/separated accounts.
• Assist with student events like Open Houses, Preview Days, and Orientations (may require weekends/evenings).

Electronic Systems Management:

• Troubleshoot issues with dining plan software and point of sale systems via phone, web and email
• Add POS menu items, tenders, plans, etc. into the university transaction system.
• Accurately register dining contracts in enrollment and billing systems.
• Resolve dining contract audit discrepancies.
• Perform data file maintenance as needed.
• Develop, update and add to the sales and services procedure manual.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Hospitality Management, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum 2 years of experience in a customer service, sales support, or administrative role, preferably in a higher education or dining services environment with the ability to connect with a young adult demographic.
• Proven experience handling data entry, record-keeping, and account management, with strong attention to detail and ability to maintain confidential information.
• Experience using or managing transaction system, such as point-of-sale (POS), enrollment, or billing software.
• Ability to analyze data related to customer inquiries, dining plan trends, and system usage to anticipate and fulfill customer needs.
• Proven experience delivering speeches or presentations in large group settings.
• Demonstrated ability to work in and foster an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and experiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to rapidly pick up new software systems and technology tools.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with teams.

Salary Range:

$50,000-$55,000

Benefits

All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

FLSA Exemption Status:

Non-Exempt

Hours per Week:

40

Restricted Position:

No

ORP Eligible:

No

Flexible Work Arrangement:

Fully Onsite

University Job Title:

12211N - Specialist AX 1